DANAD Design was formed in 1958 by a collective of up-and-coming artists, poets, journalists and designers. 

The painters and sculptors behind DANAD Design are often acknowledged as some of the originators of the 20th-century Pop Art movement. Between 1958 and 1962, they sought to bring art into everyday life through the design of furniture and surfaces. 

Discover all images from DANAD Design available on our website. 

The young artists were based in Marden Hill, a Georgian country house in Hertfordshire. Here, these artists created a communal living and working space. It became a creative oasis in which to escape the chaos of the Coloney Rooms. The impressive group centred around Bernard Cohen, Robyn Denny, Peter Blake RA, Barry Daniels, Tony Adams, Edward Wright. Other artists who drifted in and out of DANAD Design included Ted Hughes and Sylvia Plath, among several others. During the 1960s, many prolific musicians such as Mick Jagger and Jimi Hendrix drifted in and out of Marden Hill. While some remained rooted within the community, others participated occasionally. 

This artistic collective drew inspiration from a broad variety of collaborations and sources. 

To enhance their talents, the Pop Art pioneers looked to the architects Peter Adams and Colin Huntley to capture their aesthetic vision within hand-made furniture. This enabled the artists forming DANAD Design to expand on the traditional concept of fine art, bringing it into a three-dimensional space. This opened up a new platform for the display of artwork. Art historians often refer to this expansive notion as a defining feature of the Pop Art movement.  

Barry Daniels’ son, Mark Daniels, noted that the intention underlining the approach taken by the group was not to take art too seriously and to democratise it. The application of art to tables, lights, room screens and household items, using plastic laminates as a medium, enabled this. The furniture created by DANAD Design was exclusively hand-crafted rather than mass-produced. It was only available to purchase through Liberty, Harrods and Heal’s. They subsequently carried out commissions at The Royal Bank of Scotland and Baden-Powell House in London. In 1960, they additionally had one major exhibition in the Portal Gallery. Although they operated for only four years, this short period assisted in the launch of the careers of several of Britain’s most renowned artists. They continued to pursue their individual artistic endeavours. 

Barry Daniels (b. 1931 d. 2010) was a crucial artist and co-founder of DANAD Design. In the 1960s, Barry designed beautiful textiles, drawing inspiration from the 1960s Flower Power movement. He collaborated with Mary Quant and Biba, alongside others. He became an agent for other designers of textiles and surface patterns. Though Barry perhaps did not gain the recognition during his lifetime that other members of DANAD design did, he was a celebrated textile designer. Mark Daniels commented that his father’s journey within the art world was cut short. During the elevation of his career in the mid-1960s, a gallery in Sydney displaying a ten-year retrospective of Barry’s work was destroyed by a fire. For thirty years, he did not paint again. 

Following the studio's closure, the Barry Daniels archive has been stored in the basement of the Marden Hill mansion. Much of the collection had been locked up for fifty years until Mark Daniels discovered this basement. It is now used as a valuable resource for other designers, as well as remaining a treasure trove of unique vintage art. 

Though often overlooked, the DANAD Design archive highlights a significant moment in British design history. Their ground-breaking and imaginative designs offer an insight into this time. Bridgeman Images is delighted to represent this brilliant archive. 

Discover all images from DANAD Design available on our website.

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